CSI Lab Manager | Criminal Justice & Criminology (Pullman, WA)

Washington State University • Wilson, WA

5h • Hybrid

About The Position

The Complex Social Interactions Lab (CSI) at Washington State University is seeking a Lab Manager to support its mission of developing practical, freely available tools for evidence-based policing. This role involves analyzing body-worn camera footage to improve community-police interactions. The Lab Manager will direct compliance and procedural development, ensuring adherence to university and federal guidelines by managing IRB ethics documentation, safety protocols, and standard operating procedures (SOPs). This position serves as the operational backbone of the lab, overseeing day-to-day laboratory workflows, project timelines, and fiscal budgets. Responsibilities include managing project expenditures, coordinating logistics for stakeholders, and compiling administrative and budgetary components for grant proposals. Additionally, the role will assist with undergraduate research experiences and conduct research. Approximately 50% of the workload will be dedicated to direct research, including collaborating on initiatives such as developing web applications for domestic violence investigations, studying officer stress, and conducting multimodal de-escalation training studies using natural language processing (NLP). Research responsibilities include conducting literature reviews, managing advanced data-collection pipelines, and training students in specialized video-analysis techniques. The ideal candidate will also contribute to the scientific community by drafting progress reports, designing visual data structures, and co-authoring manuscripts for peer-reviewed journals and conference presentations. The Lab Manager will also serve as a mentor and liaison for large cohorts of students in a 3-credit course each academic year. This position is based on the WSU Pullman campus and may be eligible for a hybrid work schedule.

Requirements

• A Master’s degree or a professional degree in an appropriate related scientific or engineering discipline with at least three (3) years relevant work experience.
• A PhD in a relevant scientific or engineering field may be substituted for up to two (2) years of the required work experience.
• Any combination of relevant education and professional experience may be substituted for the educational requirement on a year‐for‐year basis.
• Demonstrated experience working with multimodal data (video, audio, text, or similar complex datasets).
• Experience with data collection, management, or analysis in any research context.
• Experience in academic research laboratory settings.
• Background in training, mentoring, or supervising students.
• Must have, or be able to obtain by time of hire, a valid driver’s license and meet requirements in accordance with SPPM 7.10 and departmental driving standards.

Nice To Haves

• Doctoral degree (Ph.D.) with experience working in a research laboratory setting.
• Experience working with multimodal data, including video, audio, and text.
• Demonstrated experience in training and mentoring research assistants, particularly undergraduate and graduate students.
• Experience supervising and mentoring graduate student research projects.
• Familiarity with police procedures and terminology.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills for effective graduate student mentorship.

Responsibilities

• Direct compliance and procedural development, ensuring adherence to university and federal guidelines by independently managing IRB ethics documentation, safety protocols, and standard operating procedures (SOPs).
• Serve as the operational backbone of the lab, directly managing day-to-day laboratory workflows, project timelines, and fiscal budgets.
• Manage project expenditures, coordinate logistics for internal and external stakeholders, and compile administrative and budgetary components for major grant proposals.
• Assist with undergraduate research experiences and conduct research.
• Collaborate on the lab's initiatives, which include developing web applications for domestic violence investigations, studying officer stress, and conducting multimodal de-escalation training studies utilizing natural language processing (NLP).
• Conduct literature reviews, manage advanced data-collection pipelines, and train students in specialized video-analysis techniques.
• Draft progress reports, design visual data structures, and co-author manuscripts for peer-reviewed journals and conference presentations.
• Serve as a mentor and liaison for large cohorts of 80-100 students enrolled in our 3-credit course each academic year.

Benefits

• Paid sick and vacation leave
• Paid holidays
• Medical, dental, life and disability insurance package for employees and dependents
• Retirement
• Deferred compensation
• Optional supplemental retirement accounts
• Training and development
• Employee tuition waiver

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level